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We consider a scale discrete wavelet approach on the sphere based on spherical radial basis functions. If the generators of the wavelets have a compact support, the scale and detail spaces are finite-dimensional, so that the detail information of a function is determined by only finitely many wavelet coefficients for each scale. We describe a pyramid scheme for the recursive determination of the wavelet coefficients from level to level, starting from an initial approximation of a given function. Basic tools are integration formulas which are exact for functions up to a given polynomial degree and spherical convolutions.

Spline functions that approximate data given on the sphere are developed in a weighted Sobolev space setting. The flexibility of the weights makes possible the choice of the approximating function in a way which emphasizes attributes desirable for the particular application area. Examples show that certain choices of the weight sequences yield known methods. A convergence theorem containing explicit constants yields a usable error bound. Our survey ends with the discussion of spherical splines in geodetically relevant pseudodifferential equations.

Some new approximation methods are described for harmonic functions corresponding to boundary values on the (unit) sphere. Starting from the usual Fourier (orthogonal) series approach, we propose here nonorthogonal expansions, i.e. series expansions in terms of overcomplete systems consisting of localizing functions. In detail, we are concerned with the so-called Gabor, Toeplitz, and wavelet expansions. Essential tools are modulations, rotations, and dilations of a mother wavelet. The Abel-Poisson kernel turns out to be the appropriate mother wavelet in approximation of harmonic functions from potential values on a spherical boundary.

The static deformation of the surface of the earth caused by surface pressure like the water load of an ocean or an artificial lake is discussed. First a brief mention is made on the solution of the Boussenesq problem for an infinite halfspace with the elastic medium to be assumed as homogeneous and isotropic. Then the elastic response for realistic earth models is determinied by spline interpolation using Navier splines. Major emphasis is on the derteminination of the elastic field caused by water loads from surface tractions on the (real) earth" s surface. Finally the elastic deflection of an artificial lake assuming a homogeneous isotropic crust is compared for both evaluation methods.

Satellite gradiometry and its instrumentation is an ultra-sensitive detection technique of the space gravitational gradient (i.e. the Hesse tensor of the gravitational potential). Gradeometry will be of great significance in inertial navigation, gravity survey, geodynamics and earthquake prediction research. In this paper, satellite gradiometry formulated as an inverse problem of satellite geodesy is discussed from two mathematical aspects: Firstly, satellite gradiometry is considered as a continuous problem of harmonic downward continuation. The space-borne gravity gradients are assumed to be known continuously over the satellite (orbit) surface. Our purpose is to specify sufficient conditions under which uniqueness and existence can be guaranteed. It is shown that, in a spherical context, uniqueness results are obtainable by decomposition of the Hesse matrix in terms of tensor spherical harmonics. In particular, the gravitational potential is proved to be uniquely determined if second order radial derivatives are prescribed at satellite height. This information leads us to a reformulation of satellite gradiometry as a (Fredholm) pseudodifferential equation of first kind. Secondly, for a numerical realization, we assume the gravitational gradients to be known for a finite number of discrete points. The discrete problem is dealt with classical regularization methods, based on filtering techniques by means of spherical wavelets. A spherical singular integral-like approach to regularization methods is established, regularization wavelets are developed which allow the regularization in form of a multiresolution analysis. Moreover, a combined spherical harmonic and spherical regularization wavelet solution is derived as an appropriate tool in future (global and local) high-presision resolution of the earth" s gravitational potential.

By the use of locally supported basis functions for spherical spline interpolation the applicability of this approximation method is spread out since the resulting interpolation matrix is sparse and thus efficient solvers can be used. In this paper we study locally supported kernels in detail. Investigations on the Legendre coefficients allow a characterization of the underlying Hilbert space structure. We show now spherical spline interpolation with polynomial precision can be managed with locally supported kernels, thus giving the possibility to combine approximation techniques based on spherical harmonic expansions with those based on locally supported kernels.

Discrete families of functions with the property that every function in a certain space can be represented by its formal Fourier series expansion are developed on the sphere. A Fourier series type expansion is obviously true if the family is an orthonormal basis of a Hilbert space, but it also can hold in situations where the family is not orthogonal and is overcomplete. Furthermore, all functions in our approach are axisymmetric (depending only on the spherical distance) so that they can be used adequately in (rotation) invariant pseudodifferential equations on the frames (ii) Gauss- Weierstrass frames, and (iii) frames consisting of locally supported kernel functions. Abel-Poisson frames form families of harmonic functions and provide us with powerful approximation tools in potential theory. Gauss-Weierstrass frames are intimately related to the diffusion equation on the sphere and play an important role in multiscale descriptions of image processing on the sphere. The third class enables us to discuss spherical Fourier expansions by means of axisymmetric finite elements.

Recently, Xu and Cheney (1992) have proved that if all the Legendre coefficients of a zonal function defined on a sphere are positive then the function is strictly positive definite. It will be shown in this paper, that even if finitely many of the Legendre coefficients are zero, the strict positive definiteness can be assured. The results are based on approximation properties of singular integrals, and provide also a completely different proof of the results ofXu and Cheney.

Based on a new definition of delation a scale discrete version of spherical multiresolution is described, starting from a scale discrete wavelet transform on the sphere. Depending on the type of application, different families of wavelets are chosen. In particular, spherical Shannon wavelets are constructed that form an orthogonal multiresolution analysis. Finally fully discrete wavelet approximation is discussed in case of band-limited wavelets.

In modern approximation methods linear combinations in terms of (space localizing) radial basis functions play an essential role. Areas of application are numerical integration formulas on the uni sphere omega corresponding to prescribed nodes, spherical spline interpolation, and spherical wavelet approximation. the evaluation of such a linear combination is a time consuming task, since a certain number of summations, multiplications and the calculation of scalar products are required. This paper presents a generalization of the panel clustering method in a spherical setup. The economy and efficiency of panel clustering is demonstrated for three fields of interest, namely upward continuation of the earth's gravitational potential, geoid computation by spherical splines and wavelet reconstruction of the gravitational potential.